diff --git a/src/mu-log.c b/src/mu-log.c
index 6cebf68e..c9a8dc15 100644
--- a/src/mu-log.c
+++ b/src/mu-log.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* 
-** Copyright (C) 2010 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 ** it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@
 **  
 */
 
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
 #include <config.h>
+#endif /*HAVE_CONFIG_H*/
+
+#include "mu-log.h"
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -29,7 +33,6 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
-#include "mu-log.h"
 #include "mu-util.h"
 
 #define MU_LOG_FILE "mu.log"
@@ -72,9 +75,9 @@ mu_log_init_silence (void)
 {
 	g_return_val_if_fail (!MU_LOG, FALSE);
 	
-        MU_LOG = g_new(MuLog, 1);
-        MU_LOG->_fd     = -1;
-	MU_LOG->_own    = FALSE; /* nobody owns silence */
+        MU_LOG	     = g_new(MuLog, 1);
+        MU_LOG->_fd  = -1;
+	MU_LOG->_own = FALSE;	/* nobody owns silence */
 	
 	MU_LOG->_old_log_func =
 		g_log_set_default_handler ((GLogFunc)silence, NULL);
@@ -142,7 +145,7 @@ log_file_backup_maybe (const char *logfile)
 		if (errno == ENOENT)
 			return TRUE; /* it did not exist yet, no problem */
 		else {
-			g_warning ("Failed to stat(2) %s", logfile);
+			g_warning ("failed to stat(2) %s", logfile);
 			return FALSE;
 		}
 	}
@@ -168,7 +171,7 @@ mu_log_init  (const char* muhome,
 	g_return_val_if_fail (muhome, FALSE);
 
 	if (!mu_util_create_dir_maybe(muhome)) {
-		g_warning ("Failed to init log in %s", muhome);
+		g_warning ("failed to init log in %s", muhome);
 		return FALSE;
 	}
 	
@@ -176,7 +179,7 @@ mu_log_init  (const char* muhome,
 				   G_DIR_SEPARATOR, MU_LOG_FILE);
 
 	if (backup && !log_file_backup_maybe(logfile)) {
-		g_warning ("Failed to backup log file");
+		g_warning ("failed to backup log file");
 		return FALSE;
 	}
 	
diff --git a/src/mu-log.h b/src/mu-log.h
index 0ebef660..dcd6bd8b 100644
--- a/src/mu-log.h
+++ b/src/mu-log.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* 
-** Copyright (C) 2010 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 ** it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
 #define MU_MAX_LOG_FILE_SIZE 1000 * 1000 /* 1 MB (SI units) */
 
-/** 
+/**
  * write logging information to a log file
  * 
  * @param muhome the mu home directory
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
 gboolean mu_log_init  (const char* muhome, gboolean backup,
 		       gboolean quiet, gboolean debug);
 
-/** 
+/**
  * write logging information to a file descriptor
  * 
  * @param fd an open file descriptor
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ gboolean mu_log_init  (const char* muhome, gboolean backup,
 gboolean mu_log_init_with_fd    (int fd, gboolean doclose, gboolean quiet,
 				 gboolean debug);
 
-/** 
+/**
  * be absolutely silent, except for runtime errors, which will be
  * written to stderr.
  *  
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ gboolean mu_log_init_with_fd    (int fd, gboolean doclose, gboolean quiet,
 gboolean mu_log_init_silence    (void);
 
 
-/** 
+/**
  * unitialize the logging system, and free all resources
  */
 void mu_log_uninit             (void);
diff --git a/src/mu-util.c b/src/mu-util.c
index b4914324..95e4481e 100644
--- a/src/mu-util.c
+++ b/src/mu-util.c
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@
 **
 */
 
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif /*HAVE_CONFIG_H*/
+
+#include "mu-util.h"
+
 #define _XOPEN_SOURCE 500
 #include <wordexp.h> /* for shell-style globbing */
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -43,8 +49,6 @@
 #include <glib/gstdio.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 
-#include "mu-util.h"
-
 static char*
 do_wordexp (const char *path)
 {
@@ -57,12 +61,12 @@ do_wordexp (const char *path)
 	}
 	
 	if (wordexp (path, &wexp, 0) != 0) {
-		g_debug ("%s: expansion failed for %s", __FUNCTION__, path);
+		/* g_debug ("%s: expansion failed for %s", __FUNCTION__, path); */
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	
-	if (wexp.we_wordc != 1) /* not an *error*, we just take the first one */
-		g_debug ("%s: expansion ambiguous for '%s'", __FUNCTION__, path);
+	/* if (wexp.we_wordc != 1) /\* not an *error*, we just take the first one *\/ */
+	/* 	g_debug ("%s: expansion ambiguous for '%s'", __FUNCTION__, path); */
 	
 	dir = g_strdup (wexp.we_wordv[0]);
 
@@ -78,6 +82,8 @@ do_wordexp (const char *path)
 }
 
 
+/* note, the g_debugs are commented out because this function may be
+ * called before the log handler is installed. */
 char*
 mu_util_dir_expand (const char *path)
 {
@@ -92,8 +98,8 @@ mu_util_dir_expand (const char *path)
 	
 	/* now, resolve any symlinks, .. etc. */
 	if (!realpath (dir, resolved)) {
-		g_debug ("%s: could not get realpath for '%s': %s",
-			 __FUNCTION__, dir, strerror(errno));
+		/* g_debug ("%s: could not get realpath for '%s': %s", */
+		/* 	 __FUNCTION__, dir, strerror(errno)); */
 		g_free (dir);
 		return NULL;
 	} else